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Awaiting Presidential Remarks at Memorial Service for Fallen West Virginia Miners; Survivors Surveying Damage from Deadly Twister; Two Senior Al Qaeda Leaders Dead; Demonstrators Rallying in Phoenix over New Immigration Law
Aired April 25, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I want to take you now to Beckley, West Virginia. You see the President of the United States there. He's at this memorial service. Also West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin there and a number of other dignitaries.
What's happening right now there in Beckley is family members of the 29 victims of this month's coal mine explosion are filing in. You see the white crosses there just in the backdrop. What we understand will happen is a number of the family members, one representative of each of the 29 families, will actually have a helmet and place the helmet on each of the 29 crosses that represent the 29 men who were killed in that underground explosion.
We also understand maybe roughly about 15 minutes after the hour, President Obama will deliver the eulogy. We understand it might be about 10 minutes long. Of course, he'll talk about the collective grief that people are feeling as a result of this explosion and the lives lost, and he will also try to offer some assurances that some measures of safety will be put into place for future coal miners and other communities that have such great investments in the coal mining industry.
There you saw the governor, Joe Manchin. The first lady, Gail Manchin is also there. I understand that she is actually the one introducing the family members. Let's just listen in right now as names are being announced on the P.A. system and family members are filing in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tammy Davis.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Benny R. Willingham.
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WHITFIELD: So again, what's taking place here is you're hearing the announcements of a family member who will come forward. They're being greeted by Governor Joe Manchin of West Virginia before they're handed a helmet, and then they put that helmet on the white crosses that symbolize the 29 miners who died in that explosion. That underground explosion there in West Virginia, April 5th. You saw also in the periphery there, the president of the United States who will be delivering a 10-minute or so eulogy there. And that will take place maybe 10 or 15 minutes from now. We're going to continue to monitor this memorial service taking place in Beckley, West Virginia.
We will, of course, allow you to see the president's address live as it happens. For now we're going to take a short break and we'll be right back.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Back to the NEWSROOM now. We want to take you back to Beckley, West Virginia, where you're about to hear the names of family members of the 29 miners be called to the front. They'll be greeted and consoled by the president of the United States there during this memorial service and also by Governor Joe Manchin. Then they're handed a helmet. And they take that helmet and place it on top of the white crosses that are markers to symbolize the 29 lives lost in that underground explosion earlier this month.
Let's take a listen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Christopher Lee Bell, Sr.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joel R. Jody Price.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deward Allen Scott.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grover Dale Skeens.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: William "Griff" Griffith.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike Lee "Cuz" Elswick.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Howard Daniel "Boone" Payne, Jr.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gary Wayne Quarles.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: William Roosevelt Lynch. (APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ricky Workman.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Richard "Rick" Keith Lane.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Adam Keith Morgan.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Edward Dean Jones.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Robert Eugene Clark.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Marcum.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ronald Lee Maynor.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dillard Earl "Dewey" Persinger.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rex Lane Mullins.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, and now I would ask you to please remain standing for the posting of the colors and the singing of our national anthem.
(SINGING)
WHITFIELD: More from Beckley, West Virginia, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: We'll get back to Beckley, West Virginia momentarily where the memorial service is under way for the 29 miners who were killed in that under ground explosion earlier this month. The president of the United States will be eulogizing them. We'll carry that live.
But first we want to tell you some other things happening around the country and the world. Scenes like this right now are being repeated across the south central Mississippi today. Survivors are surveying the damage after a deadly twister cut across the state yesterday. Ten people were killed including three children, 33 others were injured and nearly 200 homes were destroyed or damaged across several counties in Mississippi.
And confirmation from al Qaeda in Iraq that two of their senior leaders are dead. Last night an Islamic website called the deaths of al-Mashr and al Baghdadiit a great loss. The militants were killed earlier this month during a joint Iraq/U.S. operation near Takrit. The U.S. Military considers their deaths a potentially devastating blow to the terrorists.
And demonstrators are rallying at the Arizona state capitol in Phoenix right now to protest a new immigration law. Governor Jan Brewer signed it just two days ago. It requires police to question people they suspect of being illegal immigrants. And it requires legal immigrants to carry registration documents at all times.
Much more straight ahead right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Back now to Beckley, West Virginia, and the memorial service for the 29 miners killed in an explosion earlier this month.
Let's listen in now to West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin.
GOV. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: That allows us to move forward when we've been so badly wounded. I want to thank everyone around the nation and throughout the world for their prayers and wishes during this last couple of weeks. We feel your sympathy and your love here in the mountain state. My main goal since I learned of the explosion has been to make sure our miners were represented honorably. And that their families would have the support and protection that they need during this difficult time.
I've personally been through this type of a tragedy. I lost my uncle and a lot of my classmates in 1968 at the Farmington, West Virginia, mine explosion. So it was important to me to make sure that those who did not know West Virginia mining families would come to understand the character and substance of these wonderful people who play such an important part in this great state and this great nation of ours. As I listened to our first lady read each of our 29 miners' names and watched as each family came toward -- came forward to place a helmet in honor of their loved ones, I was saddened like all of you. But I was also inspired.
Amid the pain, I see courage. It's the same courage I saw in the face of these wives, these mothers, the fathers, the brothers, the sisters, the sons and these daughters, those long nights as we all waited for more news at the Upper Big Branch Mine. Each of you, each of you exhibit a will and a spirit that we all admire. And this service today is our expression of love and hope for the comfort that we wish for all of you and your family. These were strong men. They were strong in stature. They were strong in character. They were strong in their love for you. They were strong in their courage. They were strong in their communities.
They were strong in their commitment to every family member, and they were so strong in their faith in God. Today is our chance to be strong in their honor. These were hard working and brave men. And I know you all know it takes brave men to work beneath the surface. Today is our chance to be brave also in their honor. Mining was the job they chose, and it was the job they loved. They were very skilled, and they were very good at what they did. I believe, I believe that each of those 29 miners, like every miner working today, as well as many of their fathers and grandfathers that worked before them, had not only a strong commitment to provide a good living for their families, but a deep patriotic pride that the work they did and the energy that they produced made America strong and free.
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And my wish is this. That every American takes time to say a prayer for every coal miner working today that keeps our nation vibrant and safe, to not only thank them, but to honor them for their work and their patriotism.
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I also want to take a moment to recognize our rescue teams who are here with us tonight. They're seated -
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They're seated on the floor among our fallen miners' family members. They stood side by side with all of us throughout the disaster and put their own lives at risk to find their fallen brothers. And when we ultimately learned that we had lost them all, our rescuers, those rescuers, switched their cap lights back on and went back in the mine to bring their friends home in the most honorable way. God bless you.
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We all thank you, and we are honored that you're with us this evening. I want to thank President Obama, and I want to thank Vice President Biden who have come today, who have come today to make this journey of honor with us. Thank you so much. (APPLAUSE) and I hope -- I hope that everyone here today and everyone watching around the nation has discovered during this time of tragedy what's so special about our miners and our mining families.
After today, we turn our focus on their legacy. I don't have the answers about why this has happened. But I promise you, we will find the answers. And I pledge -- (APPLAUSE) I pledge to each and every one of you and these wonderful families that your loved ones will not have died in vain. I pledge that to you. We owe it to you, and we owe it to them. I know also from personal experience that you will never fill the void from the loss. You won't fill that void.
But I also know that you will never lose those precious memories that belong to you about these wonderful men, our miners. A Chinese proverb goes something like this. To get through the hardest journey, we need take only one step at a time. But we must keep on stepping. Our journey through grief is a long one. But our healing has begun, and we are all stepping forward. Thank you, and may God bless each and every one of you.
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REV. DENNIS SPARKS, EXEC. DIR., W. VA. COUNCIL OF CHURCHES: In memoriam, we have gathered to honor the beloved 29 coal miners whose lives were given unto these mountains of West Virginia some 20 days hence. In our gathering today, we lift up the memories of all the miners who've sacrificed for generations gone by to provide energy for the people of this nation and the world. And now this past Thursday, another miner, 28-year-old John King, died in a separate mining accident here in Raleigh County, bringing mining fatalities this year to 33. We hold the King family in our prayers.
And as we turned the news on this morning, we saw devastation from a tornado affecting the lives of families in Mississippi and we raise them up in our prayers. I stand before you bringing greetings from the people of this state, the nation and the world who are united in the shared grief and the bond of love for you, the families present here today. For you, the mothers, the widows, the sons and daughters, and your immediate and distant family. For friends and coworkers, rescue teams and neighbors of those who honor and remember this day. Sunday school children from across this land have sent their love.
Brooklyn from West Virginia sent a card, God loves you, miners. Miners, we will pray for you. And Hudson, a student, said this, Texas sends its love. Hundreds have sent contributions to the Mont coal Mining Disaster fund. And they all send expressions of their thoughts and their prayers. While the rain seems to threaten us today to fall around us with a sense of the heavens weeping, spring mountain flowers are sprouting as a message of hope with prayers of healing and peace offered throughout all the faith communities of this land in support of the miners.
In their behalf, I bring you greetings. Greetings to you, in the name of the church of Jesus Christ and all its expressions who are represented here today by so many pastors and church leaders from this community and beyond. Many of these church leaders sit at the council of churches unity table. And three of them are our faith community dignitaries that we call bishops and we rightfully honor them and welcome them today. Others are leaders in the faith community, and we had a pre-gathering and prayed for this gathering earlier today.
I greet you in their behalf as well as all the church leaders who pray in unity in the name of Christ. We have to give a special thank you to Governor Joe Manchin and all our congressional delegation for the heartfelt compassion in the past weeks as we also greet our dignitaries and especially our president, President Obama, and Vice President Biden.
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Greetings to all, with the words adapted from the ancient biblical prophet, the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and the trees of the field shall clap their hands. And it shall be to the lord a memorial, a sign of hope, healing and eternal light of God. Amen.
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(SINGING)
REV. HELEN OATES, UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: We who have gained strength and courage in these West Virginia hills understand the words of the psalmist; I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come? My help comes from the lord who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The lord is your keeper. The lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The lord will keep your going out and you're coming in from this time forth, and forever more. The word of God for the people of God.
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